DEOMI NEWS LINKS 9 JULY 2021 - HIGHLIGHTS - Defense Equal ...

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                        DEOMI NEWS LINKS 9 JULY 2021

                                       HIGHLIGHTS

Biden nominates first out lesbian to ambassador-level post [Dan Avery, NBC News, 9 July 2021]
President Joe Biden has nominated the first out lesbian to an ambassador-level position in U.S.
history. Chantale Wong has been appointed U.S. director of the Asian Development Bank, which
works to foster economic growth in the Asia-Pacific Region. If approved by the Senate, she will
be the first LGBTQ person of color as well as the first gay woman with the rank of ambassador.
Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, which works to advance LGBTQ elected
and appointed government officials, praised Wong for raising the bar for representation, but said
her nomination “is about more than making history.” Chantale will represent the most powerful
nation in the Asian Development Bank at a time when many of its member states criminalize
LGBTQ people and deny them the right to marry,” Parker said in a statement . She is just the
latest in a long list of out LGBTQ nominees the White House has put forward: The Victory
Institute reported that, as of late April, Biden has appointed at least 200 LGBTQ officials,
“exponentially more than any other president at this point in their administration.”

Military commanders aren’t getting necessary legal training, government review finds [Nancy
Montgomery, Stars and Stripes, 9 July 2021]
Legal training provided to commanders may be inadequate, a government watchdog agency
found in a report released as Congress determines whether to remove commanders from
prosecutorial decision-making in cases involving suspected sexual assault. The Government
Accountability Office, after analyzing legal training and holding discussions with commanders
and legal support staff, found that “perspectives varied on the general preparedness of
commanders to address legal issues. “In addition, GAO found that the timing, amount, and mix of
legal training provided to commanders may not be meeting their needs,” said the report released
Thursday. Commanders may be responsible for many legal duties, including making criminal
justice decisions, conforming with international law and complying with the rules of engagement
in combat. Legal training is generally reserved for mid-level commanders, but “commanders
from all four services indicated that they would have benefited from dedicated legal training
earlier in their careers,” the report said.

Nearly 80% of Feds, D.C. Employees Believe Productivity Increased With Telework [Frank
Konkel, NextGov, 1 July 2021]
Almost four in five federal employees and Washington, D.C. government workers say they’ve
been more productive while teleworking during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey
released this week by the American Federation of Government Employees. The survey, conducted
by AFGE, a federal employee union representing 700,000 federal and Washington, D.C.
employees, found that 62% of respondents said their productivity increased “a lot” during the
pandemic, while 17% said productivity increased “a little.” Another 17% said their productivity
didn’t change, while only 4% said productivity declined. The survey comes as agency heads
decide how to operate in the waning months of a pandemic that shuttered many federal offices for

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more than a year, displacing hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors. The
survey suggests federal employees would prefer a more flexible future work environment. Nearly
8 in 10 respondents—77%—said they would like to continue teleworking at their current level,
while 19% said they wanted to increase the number of days they work from home. Of those who
favored increased telework, 40% preferred to telework full-time, while 30% said they’d prefer to
telework three days per week.

CULTURE

Army investigates culture and climate at School of Advanced Military Studies [Davis Winkie,
Army Times, 6 July 2021]
The Army has launched an investigation into the culture and climate at its School of Advanced
Military Studies, Army Times has learned. SAMS is one of four advanced schools that make up
the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The investigation came
following an internal survey and an Army University survey that “savaged” the school’s director,
Col. Brian Payne, according to a SAMS employee. Payne has faced criticism from students and
faculty regarding his leadership style and a rapid, rocky rollout of a new SAMS curriculum
during the pandemic, said the employee, who requested anonymity because they weren’t
authorized to speak with media. New courses lacked quality control, said the employee, and
students were frustrated by constant last-minute changes to what they felt were incomplete
courses. When reached by Army Times, officials insisted that the investigation is not into Payne,
and his name doesn’t appear in the investigator’s questions, which were reviewed by Army
Times. But the Army has specific surveys for routine evaluations of climate and culture, and Army
Regulation 15-6 investigations result when these routine measures have identified potential
issues.

Black women athletes are still being scrutinized ahead of the Olympics despite their successes
[Nicole Chavez, CNN, 6 July 2021]
As the world’s top athletes head into the Tokyo Olympics, a wave of penalizations and criticism
are shedding light onto how Black women in sports are treated. In recent weeks, the governing
body for aquatic sports refused to approve the use of a swimming cap designed to accommodate
natural Black hair during international competitions. A U.S. Olympic hammer thrower was also
criticized for protesting during the playing of the national anthem and two Namibian sprinters
were ruled ineligible to compete in a race due to naturally high testosterone levels. Those
incidents, experts say, show how sports policies don’t necessarily take into account athletes of
color and the dehumanization that Black women and girls experience. Policies and procedures
associated with sporting events, including the Olympics are often seen as “race neutral,” said
Lori L. Martin, a sociology professor at Louisiana State University who studies race and
education through a sports lens.

A Disparaging Video Prompts Explosive Fallout Within ESPN [Kevin Draper, The New York
Times, 5 July 2021]

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As the NBA playoffs started in May, the stars of ESPN’s marquee basketball show, “NBA
Countdown,” discussed whether they would refuse to appear on it. They were objecting to a
production edict from executives that they believed was issued to benefit a sideline reporter and
fellow star, Rachel Nichols, despite comments she had made suggesting that the host of “NBA
Countdown,” Maria Taylor, had gotten that job because she is Black. Nichols is White. Some of
those involved saw the initial maneuvering as a sign of the network favoring Nichols despite a
backdrop of criticism from employees who complained that the sports network has long
mishandled problems with racism. It had declined to discipline Nichols despite fury throughout
the company over her remark, which she made during a phone conversation nearly a year ago
after learning that she would not host coverage during the 2020 NBA finals, as she had been
expecting. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your
crappy longtime record on diversity—which, by the way, I know personally from the female side
of it—like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my
thing away.” Nichols said in July 2020.
[SEE ALSO]

Frederick Douglass’ Descendants Deliver His “Fourth Of July” Speech [NPR, 29 June 2021]
[VIDEO]
In the summer of 2020, the U.S. commemorated Independence Day amid nationwide protests for
racial justice and systemic reforms in the wake of George Floyd’s death. That June, we asked five
young descendants of Frederick Douglass to read and respond to excerpts of his famous speech,
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. It’s a powerful, historical text that reminds us of the
ongoing work of liberation.

Lynching memorial organizers plan slavery museum expansion [Kim Chandler, The Associated
Press, 7 July 2021]
The organization that created the nation’s first memorial to lynching victims has announced a
major expansion of a museum designed to trace the impact of slavery and racism through the
centuries. The Equal Justice Initiative announced Tuesday that it is moving and expanding its
Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, which explores the consequences of
enslavement, mob violence, and Jim Crow laws. EJI’s Executive Director Bryan Stevenson said
an understanding and appreciation of that history is needed “if we are going to evaluate
contemporary issues in a thoughtful way.” “A bold aspiration of the museum is to help create a
world where our children’s children are not burdened by the legacy of slavery, where racial bias
and discrimination are not factors how people can live and grow, to get to a place that feels more
like equality and justice and freedom,” Stevenson said. The existing museum had become
crowded at times, sometime limiting visitors’ ability to interact with exhibits including a slave
pen exhibit. There viewers see haunting holographic projections of enslaved people describing
their lives.

Soul Cap: Afro swimming cap Olympic rejection could be reconsidered after backlash [BBC
News, 5 July 2021]
A decision not to allow swimming caps designed for afro hair at international competitions—such
as Tokyo 2020—could be reconsidered, after backlash. Soul Cap said FINA, the water sports

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world governing body, had told them the hats aren’t suitable because they don’t follow “the
natural form of the head”. The comments sparked criticism from many swimmers with some
saying it would discourage Black people from the sport. FINA now says it’s “reviewing the
situation” regarding the products. In a statement, it said it understood “the importance of
inclusivity and representation”. “FINA is committed to ensuring that all aquatics athletes have
access to appropriate swimwear for competition where this swimwear does not confer a
competitive advantage,” it added. Soul Cap makes caps to fit over and protect dreadlocks, afros,
weaves, braids, and thick and curly hair. Kejai Terrelonge, 17, said hair-care is one of many
barriers she’s faced as a Black swimmer. “Using the smaller swimming caps that everyone else
would use—it would fit on my head but because I put [protective] oil in my hair, when I was
swimming it would just keep sliding off and my hair would get wet,” said Kejai, who lives in
Birmingham [UK].
[SEE ALSO]

Thousands of pages documenting slavery found in attic of Eastern Shore house [Anagha Srikanth,
The Hill, 2 July 2021]
Thousands of papers, some documenting the auction and sale of enslaved Black Americans, were
headed for the auction block themselves before Black historians and community members stepped
in to reclaim ownership over their past. “It was important to the community because this will
connect the dots for people and the younger generation, to let them know how things were. To
move forward, you have to see what the past was like,” said Carolyn Brooks, a community
historian with the Chesapeake Heartland Project. About 2,000 pages dating from the late 1600s
to early 1800s were found in a plastic trash bag in the attic of a 200-year-old house near
Chestertown, Md., as the owner, Nancy Bordely Lane, was cleaning it out this spring. The
foundation of the house, built in 1803 on property that had remained in the family since 1667,
was reportedly damaged and the structure was going to be demolished. The documents were
headed for the garbage, but were rescued and delivered to Dixon’s Crumpton Auction in waxed
seafood boxes, John Chaski, an antique-manuscript expert, told the Washington Post.

Union will defend teachers in “critical race theory” fights [Collin Binkley, The Associated Press,
6 July 2021]
One of the nation’s largest teachers unions on Tuesday vowed to defend members who are
punished for teaching an “honest history” of the United States, a measure that’s intended to
counter the wave of states seeking to limit classroom discussion on race and discrimination. In a
virtual address to members of the American Federation of Teachers, president Randi Weingarten
said the union is preparing litigation and has a legal defense fund “ready to go.” She promised to
fight “culture warriors” who attempt to limit lessons on racism and discrimination by labeling it
as critical race theory. At least six states have passed new laws limiting how race can be taught
in the classroom, and similar proposals are being considered in more than a dozen others. Many
of the bills are intended to bar the teaching of critical race theory — an academic framework that
examines history through the lens of racism. It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the
nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of White people in society.

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Vanessa Williams and PBS slammed for “Black national anthem” performance [Lisa Respers
France, CNN, 5 July 2021]
There was backlash over Vanessa Williams performing for Independence Day before it even
happened. Williams hosted PBS’ “A Capitol Fourth” on Sunday, and it had been announced that
she would sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has become known as the “Black national
anthem.” In the promotion leading up to the show, Williams talked about including the song.
“It’s in celebration of the wonderful opportunity that we now have to celebrate Juneteenth,” USA
Today reported the former Miss America saying. “So we are reflective of the times.” Juneteenth
commemorates the emancipation of African American slaves and was declared a federal holiday
in the U.S. this year. Conservative Twitter jumped on the “national anthem” part and declared it
“divisive,” “segregation” and “racist” to have any anthem other than “The Star Spangled
Banner,” which was scheduled to be performed by Grammy-award winner Renée Fleming. In
launching into the song, Williams, who also performed “God Bless America” earlier in the
program, said she was “filled with the spirit of freedom and the perseverance that is required to
achieve that most precious right.”

What “Blackfishing” means and why people do it [Faith Karimi, CNN, 8 July 2021]
First there was blackface. Now there’s “Blackfishing.” The term has been increasingly in the
news to describe behavior by White entertainers who appear to be imitating the appearance of
Black people. It’s not a compliment. The term came to prominence in a Twitter thread two years
ago when journalist Wanna Thompson said she noticed White celebrities and influencers
cosplaying as Black women on social media. “Blackfishing is when White public figures,
influencers and the like do everything in their power to appear Black,” Thompson told CNN this
week. “Whether that means to tan their skin excessively in an attempt to achieve ambiguity, and
wear hairstyles and clothing trends that have been pioneered by Black women.” Critics have
described it as a form of blackface, saying it creates a dangerous paradox by celebrating Black
beauty and aesthetics—but only when highlighted by White people.

DISCRIMINATION

Ex-professor alleges retaliation in lawsuit against Univ of RI [The Associated Press, 8 July 2021]
A former University of Rhode Island professor has sued the school, alleging he was fired as
retaliation for challenging the lack of diversity in the school’s leadership and encouraging
students to speak out against systemic racism. The federal suit filed by former political science
professor Louis Kwame Fosu names the school, the board of trustees, outgoing President David
Dooley and several other administrators as defendants, The Providence Journal reported
Thursday. The university violated Fosu’s free-speech rights by retaliating against him for
advocating for “diversity, justice and inclusion at URI,” according to the suit. Fosu, who is
Black, also alleges the university violated his due process rights by placing him on administrative
leave and ultimately firing him and depriving him of equal protection under the law by
disciplining him differently and more harshly than his White colleagues. He is asking for his job
back.

Judge asked to dismiss lawsuit over WVa transgender ban [The Associated Press, 7 July 2021]

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Education officials are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging West Virginia’s
new law that bans transgender athletes from competing in female sports in middle schools, high
schools and colleges. Education and athletic officials said in court documents filed last week that
they can’t be held liable for the law, which they didn’t request and largely won’t be responsible
for enforcing, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The American Civil Liberties Union and its
West Virginia chapter filed the lawsuit in May on behalf of an 11-year-old transgender girl who
had hoped to compete in cross country in middle school in Harrison County. The girl is seeking
an injunction to prevent the law from being enforced. The ban is set to take effect Thursday and
will require the state Board of Education to establish rules to determine the means by which local
athletic officials can enforce the law.

DIVERSITY

Air Force offering better fitting armor for female defenders [Zarrin Ahmed, United Press
International, 8 July 2021]
Female defenders at the 55th Forces Squadron received the first batch of new body armor for
female defenders, the Air Force announced on Thursday. The new armor will replace tactical
vests that suit different chest sizes but are flat and not designed for female bodies. “The standard
vest was very loose and when you get into a situation where you need to run, it isn’t form-fitting,
so things move and get jostled around easily,” 1st Lt. Madison Wilke said in a press release on
Thursday. Each vest costs approximately $1,200, is more snug, can be adjusted with a snap
buckle and has curved chest plates to better accommodate the female shape, the branch said.
“Wearing proper fitting safety gear is important for the health, comfort level and safety for day-
to-day operations, such as driving around in patrol cars, standing guard at the Offutt gates or
aircraft, or handling a military working dog,” officials said in the press release.

DOD Aims to Advance Citizenship Education [David Vergun, DOD News, 8 July 2021]
On Feb. 2, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14012, “Restoring Faith in Our Legal
Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.”
“Our nation is enriched socially and economically by the presence of immigrants, and we
celebrate with them as they take the important step of becoming United States citizens. The
federal government should develop welcoming strategies that promote integration, inclusion and
citizenship, and it should embrace the full participation of the newest Americans in our
democracy,” Biden stated in the executive order. As a result of EO 14012, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services developed the “Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization.” A
large part of that strategy was the establishment of a Naturalization Working Group; the Defense
Department, along with the other federal departments, is a member.

Female Vets in Congress Decry Proposal to Disband Pentagon’s Advisory Panel on Women
[Patricia Kime, Military.com, 6 July 2021]
A 70-year-old Defense Department panel focused on women’s personnel issues that has
advocated for expanded opportunities for female service members must be preserved, say the six
female veterans currently serving in Congress. The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in
the Services (DACOWITS) has been suspended temporarily and its membership dissolved as part

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of a cost and efficiency review of the Defense Department’s 42 advisory committees that began in
January. But six members of Congress, led by Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia, and Sen. Joni Ernst,
R-Iowa, say the committee’s work is too important for the panel to be dissolved or rolled into the
newly formed Defense Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Cari Thomas, a retired
rear admiral who served nearly four years on the committee, told Military.com last week that she
understood DOD’s efforts to eliminate duplication or waste but said the “timing did not feel right
to me.”

Here is the Navy’s new maternity flight suit prototype [Diana Stancy Correll, Navy Times, 8 July
2021]
The Navy now has a maternity flight suit prototype available for expecting aircrew. That means
pregnant aircrew won’t be subjected to maternity khaki uniforms, or larger flight suits that could
jeopardize their safety given the longer sleeves and hemlines if not properly altered. “Upon
examination, it was discovered that prototype expandable panels could be sewn into existing
flight suits and would be easily customized to fit using the existing tab on the side of a regular
flight suit,” Amie Blade, a spokesperson for Naval Air Systems Command, told Navy Times. “The
maternity flight suit not only makes our pregnant workforce more comfortable, but it alleviates
the potential safety hazard of extended hems and seams,” Blade said. “Also, flight suits are
uniforms that are earned, and the women who have earned them should be able to wear them.”
The first maternity flight suit was issued in the spring to Lt. Cmdr. Jacqueline Nordan,
Commander, Naval Air Force Reserve’s mobilization program manager, according to the Navy.
“The addition of this uniform item makes an immediate impact on women in the Navy,” Nordan
said in a Navy news release. “It shows that leadership is listening and is supportive in response
to the issues that female aviators are raising.”

Louisiana teen becomes the first African American contestant to win National Spelling Bee
[Kevin Dotson and Sabrina Maxouris, CNN, 9 July 2021]
Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, won the 2021 Scripps National
Spelling Bee on Thursday, becoming the first African American contestant to win in 93 editions of
the competition. The only Black winner before was Jody-Anne Maxwell, representing Jamaica in
1998. Zaila triumphed after correctly spelling murraya—a type of tree—to clinch the
championship. To get there, the teen had to navigate her way through words like
“querimonious,” “solidungulate,” and “Nepeta,” a word the teen had to reset on, and let out a
joyous jump after her correct spelling. According to a video posted on the official Guinness
World Records Twitter page, Zaila started dribbling a basketball when she was just 5 years old
and hopes to one day become a professional basketball player and join the WNBA. “I think the
more that the achievements and triumphs of women are promoted and publicized, the more likely
it is that other girls all around the world will see that they can do any and everything that they
put their minds to,” she said in the video.

OPM Asks Watchdog to Review Assessment Process for Prestigious Fellowship Amid Diversity
Concerns [Courtney Bublé, Government Executive, 7 July 2021]
The Office of Personnel Management asked its inspector general to conduct an independent
review of the circumstances surrounding the development and implementation of an online

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assessment for Presidential Management Fellow program candidates in 2017, according to a
source familiar with the matter. The program, which is administered by OPM, is a two-year
leadership and training program run by a career official. It is meant for advanced degree
candidates, after which they may convert to permanent civil service positions. Separate from the
requested IG probe, Peter Bonner, associate director for human resources solutions at OPM, and
Mini Timmaraju, senior advisor to the OPM director, sent an email, obtained by Government
Executive, on June 11 to the Presidential Management Fellows community saying, “it has
become clear to OPM that the agency has been falling short of our standards in several ways.”
They outlined steps they are taking to enhance recruitment efforts, reexamine the selection
process, revise the leadership development program curriculum and bring more diverse voices
into the program.

EXTREMISM

Domestic terrorism today more complex than threat after 9/11, says DHS counterterrorism chief
[Steve Liewer, The Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Neb.), 3 July 2021]
The United States has never faced a terrorism challenge as tough as the homegrown one it’s up
against now—not even after 9/11, the nation’s top counterterrorism official told a virtual
conference this week at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “This is the most dynamic,
complex and rapidly evolving threat I think we’ve faced,” said John Cohen, the Department of
Homeland Security’s counterterrorism coordinator. Cohen made his comments during Tuesday’s
keynote address for this week’s Envision21, a conference sponsored by UNO’s National
Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center—known as NCITE. The center,
established last year, encompasses 50 researchers and about 3,000 students in multiple academic
areas at 18 universities across the country, all of whom research violent extremism and how to
stop it. “Our work is all too relevant right now,” said Gina Ligon, NCITE’s director. “We’re just
six months removed from the worst attack on our Capitol since 1814.”

Feds agree to pay $6.1M to create database for Capitol riot prosecutions [Josh Gerstein and Lyle
Cheney, Politico, 9 July 2021]
The Justice Department has agreed to pay $6.1 million to a technology contractor to create a
massive database of videos, photographs, documents and social media posts related to the
Capitol riot as part of the process of turning relevant evidence over to defense attorneys for the
more than 500 people facing criminal charges in the Jan. 6 events, according to a court filing and
government records. To take on the daunting task, the federal government has turned to Deloitte
Financial Advisory Services, a firm prosecutors called “a litigation support vendor with extensive
experience providing complex litigation technology services.” Prosecutors are trying to organize
thousands of hours of body-worn camera footage, closed-circuit surveillance camera footage,
more than a million social media videos, data from phones and email accounts, and the responses
to more than 6,000 grand jury subpoenas, according to a court filing Thursday.

Proposal would push VA leaders to address issue of extremism in the veterans community [Leo
Shane III, Military Times, 7 July 2021]

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House lawmakers want Veterans Affairs officials to start talking to veterans about misinformation
and extremism online. Included in the House Appropriations Committee’s proposal for more than
$270 billion in department funding next fiscal year is language focused on “the unique
vulnerabilities that veterans face online,” to include targeting of veterans by extremist
organizations and groups focused on sowing division in the military community. “Efforts to
spread extremist views and conspiracy theories among the veteran community have had severely
damaging effects, such as spreading conspiracies that may have motivated participation in the
Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6,” a report on the budget proposal states. It also calls for the
department to “establish a comprehensive, evidence-based program to educate veterans about
malign influences, transition assistance to include specialized counseling services, as well as
research into operations and methods to discern against disinformation.

Viera High School teacher on administrative leave after charges in Capitol riot [Kevin Connolly
and Greg Pallone, Spectrum News Florida, 7 July 2021]
A physical education teacher at Viera High School faces an internal investigation by the Brevard
County School District after he was charged Tuesday as one of the latest suspects in the deadly
January attack on the U.S. Capitol. Kenneth J. Reda, 54, of Melbourne was arrested Tuesday on
a criminal complaint from the District of Columbia alleging four federal crimes related to his
suspected involvement in the Jan. 6 riot. Reda on Tuesday appeared before U.S. Magistrate
Judge Embry J. Kidd in an Orlando courtroom and was released on several conditions, including
posting a $25,000 bond. His case will be prosecuted in Washington D.C. Reda, who has been at
Viera since 2014, is on administrative leave while an investigation is being conducted, district
officials said. The arrest of Reda follows the June 26 arrest in Tampa of Mitchell Todd Gardner,
whose charges include destruction of government property and obstructing, influencing or
impeding any proceeding or attempt to do so. They join more than 500 suspects nationwide
charged in the ongoing federal investigation. Those include at least 31 in Central Florida and
Tampa Bay and at least 50 in Florida.

Virginia “Bible study” group was cover for violent militia plans, prosecutors say [Rachel Weiner
and Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post, 6 July 2021]
After storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, a Northern Virginia man began forming his own militia-like
group in the D.C. suburbs and building up a supply of explosives under the guise of a Bible study
group, according to federal prosecutors. Fi Duong, 27, appeared in court Friday and was
released to home confinement pending trial, over the objections of prosecutors who sought
stricter terms. According to the court record, at the time of his arrest he had several guns,
including an AK-47, and the material to make 50 molotov cocktails. Details of the case—one of
the first if not the first in which the government publicly disclosed it had someone undercover to
continue monitoring a Jan. 6 defendant—were made public Tuesday. Duong entered the Capitol
on Jan. 6, according to prosecutors, telling an undercover federal agent he climbed the building
wall, delivered a letter to lawmakers and filmed others opening a door with a crowbar. He and
others held “Bible study” where they discussed firearms and other training, according to court
documents; Duong also brought someone he described as a “three percenter” to one meeting.
The right-wing Three Percenters movement, formed in 2008, is named after the false claim that
only 3 percent of colonists fought in the American Revolution.

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[REPRINT]

What Led A Police Chief Turned Yoga Instructor To The Capitol Riot? [Tom Dreisbach, NPR, 7
July 2021]
In 2019, Alan Hostetter posted a 20-minute “sunset gong meditation” on his YouTube channel. In
the video, he stands on a Southern California cliffside in a white tunic, wearing a turquoise
bandana over long hair and a full salt-and-pepper beard. He speaks of “peace and tranquility,”
over an image of himself hitting a gong in front of a golden sun. Less than a year later, he was
fantasizing aloud about the Founding Fathers hanging California Gov. Gavin Newsom and
stating that traitors to the country “need to be executed as an example.” Now, Hostetter is facing
a criminal indictment alleging that he conspired with anti-government, extremist militiamen to
bring chaos to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and obstruct Congress from conducting the peaceful
transfer of power. When COVID-19 broke out, Orange County saw a surge of protests against
state and local lockdown policies meant to slow the pandemic. Hostetter was part of those
protests from the beginning. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would actually be in a
position to have to defend my fellow countrymen and women from domestic enemies,” Hostetter
said at a May 2020 protest in Huntington Beach, Calif. “But, damn it, I am doing it now.

HUMAN RELATIONS

3 Rules for Politeness During a Confusing Social Transition [Lizzie Post, The Atlantic, 2 July
2021]
The abrupt abandonment of handshakes and hugs. An expansion of personal space in public to
six feet. And detailed conversations preceding any social plans about who else was invited and
what risky behaviors they might have recently engaged in. Before the pandemic, any of these
actions would have been considered rude, but over the past year, they became polite. Although
etiquette has always had an undertone of safety first, during the pandemic, safety became the
main point of politeness. More than 15 months, multiple lockdowns, and hundreds of millions of
vaccine shots later, politeness is once again shifting as pandemic restrictions begin to scale back
in America. For many people, this might feel like etiquette whiplash. But politeness is always in
flux—it doesn’t come and go so much as it morphs and adapts. For instance, when the well-
known etiquette author, and my great-great-grandmother, Emily Post wrote her first book about
politeness in 1922, a common practice at high-society dinner parties was to “turn a table”: The
hostess would literally turn from speaking with the person on her right and begin to speak with
the person on her left, and all the women at the table would follow suit. Today, we embrace free-
flowing, omnidirectional conversation.
[REPRINT]

By Now, Burnout Is a Given [Lucy McBride, The Atlantic, 30 June 2021]
Congratulations if you aren’t burned out. Perhaps you learned to play the guitar, wrote a
screenplay, or took up French during the pandemic. But if you’re like me and most of my patients,
you’re running on fumes. Burnout is usually reserved to describe work-related phenomena:
exhaustion, feelings of negativism, and reduced professional efficacy. In 2019, the World Health
Organization officially recognized burnout in its International Classification of Diseases but

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clearly stated that the term “should not be applied to describe experiences in other
[nonoccupational] areas of life.” Burnout “is not classified as a medical condition,” the agency
declared, using boldface for emphasis. Similarly, the Mayo Clinic calls burnout “a special type of
work-related stress—a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of
reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity,” and specifies that it “isn’t a medical
diagnosis.” I beg to differ. The symptoms of burnout have become medical. The work of living
through a pandemic has been making us sick. As a primary-care doctor, I’m witnessing the
physical-health toll of collective trauma—high blood pressure, headaches, herniated discs. And
this has been before many people have returned to the office or resumed their pre-pandemic
schedules.
[REPRINT]

It’s not just bad behavior—why social media design makes it hard to have constructive
disagreements online [Amanda Baughan, The Conversation, 7 July 2021]
Good-faith disagreements are a normal part of society and building strong relationships. Yet it’s
difficult to engage in good-faith disagreements on the internet, and people reach less common
ground online compared with face-to-face disagreements. There’s no shortage of research about
the psychology of arguing online, from text versus voice to how anyone can become a troll and
advice about how to argue well. But there’s another factor that’s often overlooked: the design of
social media itself. My colleagues and I investigated how the design of social media affects online
disagreements and how to design for constructive arguments. We surveyed and interviewed 257
people about their experiences with online arguments and how design could help. We asked
which features of 10 different social media platforms made it easy or difficult to engage in online
arguments, and why. (Full disclosure: I receive research funding from Facebook.)
[REPRINT]

The Link Between Self-Reliance and Well-Being [Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 9 July 2021]
Scholars have described individualism in three dimensions: a belief in one’s responsibility for
one’s actions; a belief in one’s uniqueness; and a tendency to set and strive for one’s personal
goals. Just as some people are more individualistic than others (you can test your own tendencies
here using a simpler paradigm), countries vary in the level of individualism in their cultures. In
one multination study using a measure commonly cited in academic research, the United States
and the United Kingdom were found to have the most individualistic cultures, followed by
Australia, the Netherlands, and Canada. The least individualistic countries assessed were
Venezuela, Colombia, Pakistan, and Indonesia. As a general rule, researchers find that
individualism in a country strongly predicts the average level of well-being, even when correcting
for life expectancy, access to food and water, and other variables.

INTERNATIONAL

France: 11 convicted of cyberbullying teen who slammed Islam [Nicolas Vaux-Montagny, The
Associated Press, 7 July 2021]
A French court on Wednesday convicted 11 of 13 people charged with harassing and threatening
a teenager who harshly criticized Islam in online posts and ended up changing schools and

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receiving police protection to preserve her safety. The verdict was the first of its kind since
France created a new Paris court in January to prosecute online crimes, including harassment
and discrimination. The court sentenced the defendants to suspended prison terms of four to six
months and fined them about $1,770 each. The teen at the center of the landmark cyberbullying
case, who has been identified publicly only by her first name, Mila, testified last month that she
felt as if she had been “condemned to death.” Mila, who describes herself as atheist, was 16
when she started posting videos on Instagram and later TikTok harshly criticizing Islam and the
Quran. Now 18, she testified that “I don’t like any religion, not just Islam.”

Hungary activists vow to resist LGBT law, symbol of EU rift [Justine Spike, The Associated
Press, 8 July 2021]
Activists in Hungary erected a 10-meter-high (30-foot-high) rainbow-colored heart opposite the
country’s neo-Gothic parliament on Thursday, vowing to wage a civil disobedience campaign
against a new law that they say discriminates against LGBT people and that has raised questions
about what values the European Union stands for. The law, which came into effect Thursday,
prohibits the display of content depicting homosexuality or sex reassignment to minors—but
critics say its goal is to marginalize and stigmatize the LGBT community as the country marches
steadily to the right under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The law has drawn intense opposition in
Hungary and from the EU and has become a significant battleground in the fight over what the
bloc represents. Orban and some other right-wing leaders of member states have been at the
forefront of that fight, challenging the EU’s traditional “liberal consensus” by refusing to accept
migrants, cracking down on media plurality and limiting the independence of their judiciaries.

Mary Simon: Trudeau names indigenous leader in “historic” first [BBC News, 6 July 2021]
Canadian Prime Minister has named Mary Simon as governor general, the first indigenous
person to hold the post. The former diplomat and advocate for Inuit rights will represent
Canada’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth II. The announcement comes nearly six months after the
former governor general, Julie Payette, resigned amid accusations of bullying. While the role is
largely ceremonial, the governor general presides over important state duties. Ms Simon’s
appointment follows a national reckoning over Canada’s legacy of residential schools. These
government-funded boarding schools were part of policy to attempt to assimilate indigenous
children and roll back indigenous cultures and languages. On Tuesday, she said her “historic”
nomination was “an important step forward on the long path towards reconciliation” and
towards “building a more inclusive and just Canadian society”.

The push to get Australian men and boys to open up [Virginia Harrison, BBC News, 6 July 2021]
Ryder Jack says there are two emotions Australian men can show: happiness and anger. And
there’s only a couple of reasons to cry. ‘You’re allowed to cry if you win or lose a grand final, or
at a funeral,’ Mr Jack says. He runs workshops for men across the country about the state of
masculinity in Australia. His organisation, Tomorrow Man, is one of a growing number that seek
to help men and boys better understand their emotions and wellbeing. They aim to improve
mental health. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia, and men are
far more likely than women to take their own life. Many also hope these programmes will reduce
concerning rates of domestic violence in the country. Against this backdrop a movement focused

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on “healthy masculinities” has gained momentum. Some are run through schools, as well as
sporting clubs and community groups. Those behind the push cite the Man Box research: A study
of Australian men aged 18 to 30 that found the majority agreed there are social pressures on
them to behave or act a certain way because of their gender.
[SEE ALSO]

Spain says non-consensual sex is rape, toughens sexual violence laws [Belén Carreño and Nathan
Allen, Reuters, 6 July 2021]
The Spanish government approved a law on Tuesday to define all non-consensual sex as rape,
part of a legislative overhaul that toughens penalties for sexual harassment and mandates more
support systems for victims. It approved the bill five years after what became known as the “wolf-
pack” case, in which five men gang-raped an 18-year old woman at Pamplona’s bull-running
festival, causing public outrage and prompting calls to reform laws on sexual violence. The draft
still requires parliamentary approval, which is expected by the end of the year. Based around a
“yes means yes” model, which qualifies any non-consenting sex as rape, the law will bring Spain
into line with 11 other European countries, including Sweden, Portugal and Britain, that use
similar legal definitions.
[REPRINT]

Spanish police arrest three over suspected homophobic killing [Al Goodman, CNN, 7 July 2021]
Spanish police have arrested three people over the killing of a male nursing assistant in a
suspected homophobic attack that prompted protests across the country. The investigation into
the death of Samuel Luiz, 24, is ongoing and no motive has been ruled out—including the
possibility that it was a homophobic crime—according to Jose Minones, the government’s chief
delegate to northwest Spain where Luiz was beaten to death on Saturday. A judge will decide if
this was a hate crime, Minones told Spain’s SER radio in an interview on Wednesday. The killing
of Luiz—who was beaten to death outside a nightclub in the northwest city of A Coruna—
prompted protests in Madrid, Barcelona, A Coruna and numerous other Spanish cities this week,
drawing thousands who denounced attacks on the LBGTQ community. The two men and one
woman who are under arrest, ages 20 to 25, were suspected of direct participation in the attack,
according to Minones.
[SEE ALSO]

Ukrainian army’s decision to make female soldiers march in high heels sparks backlash [Jack
Guy and Denis Lapin, CNN, 6 July 2021]
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has defended its decision to train female soldiers to march in high
heels, following an outcry from local lawmakers. Women from the Ukrainian armed forces will
march in a parade to mark the 30th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union on
August 24, according to a statement from Army Inform, the defense ministry’s official news
agency, published Thursday. Ivanna Medvid, a cadet at the Military Institute of the Taras
Shevchenko National University of Kiev, has been training for more than a month. “Today, for
the first time, training takes place in high-heeled shoes,” she told Army Inform. “It’s a little
harder than in boots, but we try.” Elena Kondratyuk, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian
parliament, joined members of parliament from the “Equal Opportunities” cross-party group to

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call on defense minister Andrei Taran to reevaluate the decision to make female soldiers wear
heels while marching. Following the criticism, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday
that it will issue “new, improved footwear” for female soldiers.

MISCELLANEOUS

COVID-19 Vaccines Could Soon Be Mandatory for VA Employees [Patricia Kime, Military.com,
8 July 2021]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is weighing whether to make COVID-19 vaccinations
compulsory for employees—especially those who work in health services who haven’t yet
received their shots. VA Secretary Denis McDonough said last week that the department has
started offering half-day, paid leave as an incentive for employees to get vaccinated against
COVID-19. But the department also is “looking at all these other options”—to include making
immunizations mandatory—as part of ensuring the safety of all vets and staff. The move may be
necessary as the VA plans to resume full operations at all facilities by the end of the summer,
McDonough said during a press conference in Washington, D.C., on June 30. The legality of
requiring vaccines as a condition of employment has been hotly debated since the first COVID-19
vaccines were rolled out late last year.

Obituary: Henry Parham, last of a Black unit that fought on D-Day, dies at 99 [Janice Crompton,
The Pittsburg Post-Gazette, 8 July 2021]
Before 2009, the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy, Henry Parham got little
recognition for his role as an African-American soldier in a segregated Army during one of the
most important—and bloodiest—battles of World War II. When writers and historians figured out
that the Wilkinsburg man was likely the last surviving African American combat veteran of D-
Day, as his wife, Ethel Parham, puts it, “All hell broke loose.” “We were just plain, simple
people; we weren’t looking for awards and all that stuff. Then all of a sudden, people got
interested when they heard his story,” said Mrs. Parham, his very sprightly wife of 47 years.
“Every Tom, Dick and Harry called here and wanted an interview. Before that, nobody really
bothered. But after the 65th anniversary, people’s eyes were really opened.” A veteran of the
320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only all-Black unit to land on the beaches of
Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Mr. Parham died Sunday of bladder cancer. He was 99.
[REPRINT]

Pioneering woman Wally Funk was supposed to go to space in the ‘60s. At 82, she’s getting her
chance [Rheana Murray, TODAY, 2 July 2021]
An 82-year-old pilot who’s been trying to go to outer space for more than half a century will join
Jeff Bezos on his Blue Origin spaceflight later this month. Wally Funk is a member of the so-
called Mercury 13, a group of pioneering women who were testing to become astronauts in the
1960s before their training program was canceled. (Their story was the subject of a Netflix
documentary in 2018.) “No one has waited longer,” Bezos wrote in an Instagram post
announcing that Funk will join him on July 20 as an “honored guest.” In a video he shared, Funk
said that she’s been “flying forever,” and has 19,600 flying hours. “I have taught over 3,000
people to fly—private, commercial, instrument, flight engineer, airline transport, gliding—

Page 15 of 23

everything the FAA has, I’ve got the license for,” she said. “And I can outrun you.” She also
talked about the famously canceled training program, which had been created by a NASA
physician but wasn’t officially run by NASA, that she participated in decades ago.

A Plan to Offer In-State Tuition to Native Americans [Kate Elizabeth Queram, Route Fifty, 7 July
2021]
College students who are members of American Indian tribes with “historical ties to Colorado”
are eligible to receive in-state tuition at the state’s public universities under legislation recently
signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis. The bill, passed unanimously by the Senate in April and 49-
11 by the House in May, requires public institutions of higher learning to “adopt policies to
charge in-state tuition to any Native American student who is a registered member of a federally
recognized American Indian tribe with historical ties to Colorado.” Language in the law , which
takes effect in the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year, acknowledges that “often due to
circumstances beyond their control,” many members of indigenous tribes were “forced to
relocate across state lines, far from their historical home places.”

Prepare for mandatory COVID vaccines in September, Army tells commands [Davis Winkie,
Army Times, 2 July 2021]
The Army has directed commands to prepare to administer mandatory COVID-19 vaccines as
early as Sept. 1, pending full Food and Drug Administration licensure, Army Times has learned.
The directive came from an execute order sent to the force by Department of the Army
Headquarters. Army Times obtained a portion of a recent update to HQDA EXORD 225-21,
COVID-19 Steady State Operations. “Commanders will continue COVID-19 vaccination
operations and prepare for a directive to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for service members
[on or around] 01 September 2021, pending full FDA licensure,” the order said. “Commands
will be prepared to provide a backbrief on servicemember vaccination status and way ahead for
completion once the vaccine is mandated.” EXORDS are utilized when the president directs the
defense secretary to execute a military operation. “As a matter of policy we do not comment on
leaked documents. The vaccine continues to be voluntary,” said Maj. Jackie Wren, an Army
spokesperson. “If we are directed by DOD to change our posture, we are prepared to do so.”
[SEE ALSO]

Report: Life Expectancy Gap Widening Between Black, Non-Black Chicagoans [Marissa Nelson,
PBS, 23 June 2021]
The life expectancy gap between Black and non-Black Chicagoans has widened, according to a
recent report from the Health Equity Index Committee at the Chicago Department of Public
Health. Between 2012 and 2017, the gap grew from 8.3 years to 9.2 years, according to the
report, which found that Black Chicagoans on average live 71.4 years, while non-Black
Chicagoans live an average of 80.6 years. “We would think that the gap has potentially even
widened after the effects of COVID-19,” said Blair Aikens, an epidemiologist at the Chicago
Department of Public Health and member of CDPH’s Health Equity Index Committee. Aikens
noted that Black Chicagoans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 compared to
non-Black residents, both in the number of infections and deaths. “That’s for a variety of reasons,
some of that being the chronic diseases that Blacks tend to have more of compared to other race

Page 16 of 23

and ethnicity groups,” Aikens said. The report identified five factors driving the life expectancy
gap: chronic diseases; homicide; infant mortality; HIV, flu and other infections; and opioid
overdose.

U.S. service members suffer chronic pain at rate much higher than civilian population, report says
[John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes, 6 July 2021]
Many service members are in constant pain and the military medical system needs to better
identify effective treatments to help them cope, says a new study that found chronic pain as the
main factor leading to disability for those on active duty. Between 31% and 44% of active-duty
service members suffer from chronic pain, the nonpartisan Rand Corp. said in a study that
examined how the military health system deals with the issue. While the Defense Department has
invested heavily and made strides in treating chronic pain, expanding efforts to track how service
members are doing after they receive care would be a step forward, Rand said. “Accurately
measuring the quality of pain treatment is an essential step toward improving care,” it said. By
better understanding treatment outcomes, the Pentagon could spend money more wisely. This
would ultimately “enhance the military readiness of service members with chronic pain,” the
report said. Back pain and joint disorders are the most common types of chronic pain
experienced by troops.

Volunteers uncovering hundreds of graves at historic South Jersey cemetery for Black vets,
former enslaved people [Melanie Burney, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 6 July 2021]
The tiny reddish-orange flags that dot a corner of the historic Mount Peace Cemetery in
Lawnside tell a story. They mark more than 200 newly uncovered graves in the sprawling
cemetery established in 1900 as a private, nonsectarian resting place for Black Civil War
veterans, former enslaved people, and those who could not be buried in White-only cemeteries.
After years of neglect, the three-acre section in the back of the cemetery was covered with thick
growth and not accessible for at least five decades, said Dolly L. Marshall, who serves on the
board of the Mount Peace Cemetery Association. A band of volunteers spent the last several
months clearing the area, using light equipment, rakes, and their bare hands to remove branches
and vegetation to avoid damaging headstones and markers, Marshall said. Their goal was to live
up to the cemetery’s motto: “Uncovering hidden history one stone at a time.” “So many stories.
Their stories deserve to be told,” said Linda Shockley, president of the Lawnside Historical
Society. “The cemetery is nationally important. It needs to be preserved and taken care of so that
future generations can research it.”
[REPRINT]

MISCONDUCT

Marine Raider Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter, Hazing in Green Beret’s Death [Stephen
Losey, Military.com, 2 July 2021]
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez was convicted Thursday night of involuntary
manslaughter and other charges in the choking death of a Green Beret in Mali during an
attempted hazing and sexual assault. In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Madera-Rodriguez
was found guilty of conspiracy to commit assault and battery, conspiracy to obstruct justice,

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hazing and making false official statements, the Navy said in a Friday news release. Madera-
Rodriguez, a Marine Raider, was found not guilty of felony murder. He also was found not guilty
of burglary but convicted of housebreaking, a lesser offense. Madera-Rodriguez’s case was the
last of four special operations troops to be decided in the June 4, 2017, death of Army Staff Sgt.
Logan Melgar during a deployment in Bamako, Mali.

Texas Soldier who Shot Protester Indicted on Murder Charge [Acacia Coronado, The Associated
Press, 2 July 2021]
An Army soldier who shot and killed an armed protester after driving into a crowd demonstrating
against police violence in the Texas capital last summer has been indicted on a murder charge,
authorities said Thursday. Sgt. Daniel Perry, who was stationed at Fort Hood, was booked and
released on $300,000 bail, said Kristen Dark, a spokeswoman for the Travis County Sheriff’s
Office. Perry’s attorney, Clint Broden, has said the soldier was working for a ride-sharing
company and acted in self-defense after Foster pointed a gun at him. Broden issued a statement
Thursday expressing disappointment in the indictment and confidence that Perry would be
acquitted. Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said in a press conference Thursday that
the grand jury returned indictments against Perry for the charges of murder and aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon and a deadly conduct misdemeanor charge in the July 25 death of
Garrett Foster, 28. He said the grand jury reviewed evidence from investigations by the District
Attorney’s office and a three-week investigation by Austin officers, who reviewed over 150
exhibits and interviewed 22 witnesses.
[REPRINT]

RACISM

Are race relations a national security issue? [Dr. David Shulkin and Louis Celli Jr., Policy Vets
Podcast, 9 July 2021] [PODCAST]
Join Dr. Shulkin and Lou Celli as they speak to Reuben Keith Green and Gloria Dent. Keith is the
author of “Black Officer, White Navy”, and Gloria is a small business owner. Both had long
careers in the military and have a perspective on race in the military that is especially important
considering recent events.

Black veterans group sues VA for racial disparity data [Adam Morey, The Associated Press, 8 July
2021]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is being sued by two veterans groups for failing to provide data
on racial disparities in disability compensation benefits and healthcare services, according to a
joint statement from the plaintiffs. The two groups asked three VA units for the data and requested
that it be broken down by race and gender. They also requested records relevant to any internal
reviews of racial bias, according to the groups. While the plaintiffs did receive some data in 2018
showing that Black veterans receive disability compensation at a “significantly lower rate” than
the overall rate of compensation, they said this data was not sufficient given the extent of the
requests. Garry Monk, executive director of the NVCLR, said in a statement that Black service
members have fought and died for the country since its founding. “Yet, Black veterans have long
faced racial discrimination from the VA, the very agency that is tasked with serving them,” he said.